Paternalistic giving: restricting recipient choice

We consider the relationship between paternalism and motives for giving and assess the role of donors’ perceptions of the recipient. We theoretically incorporate the tradeoffs introduced when donors may choose how a donation is realized, cash or in kind (i.e. paternalistically) and design an experiment to examine how differently motivated donors realize their giving. While donors of all types prefer in-kind donations, the extent of paternalism depends on the donor's motivation for giving. Warm-glow givers are significantly less inclined to give paternalistically, supporting a form of warm glow that is independent of perceptions. Our findings pertain to fundraisers and policymakers.